The Fall of Men

I got told about this short so eagerly looked it up; one of my mates is a massive Dragonball fan and couldn't rate this highly enough.

Having enjoyed the cartoons 15 years ago (but no way in Hell the Hollywood film!), I already knew the characters and story, though it's been altered slightly with Cell replacing the Androids.

What plagued the cartoons were the annoying monologues and thoughts constantly being spoken out loud, and where this short spared us of them, the boring voice-over replacement was a bit of a facepalm.

The fights were okay but seriously nothing special, and the ki blasts weren't very well imagined. I can understand that money was most likely a factor, but the scope and level of destruction that would be expected from two god-like figures battling it out just didn't come across. The actor playing Trunks - a man who'd spent his entire life studying advanced martial arts - really didn't have the physique for it either, which made his role a bit hard to believe.

Well, like I said: if you're already a massive Dragonball fan, you may well love this, but then, you may not, because where the effort's appreciated, this really isn't that great. If you know nothing about Dragonball, then this short will only confuse you and probably isn't even worth looking at.

I watched this FAN MADE live action short a couple of days ago & I was amazed. The depiction of most characters were spot on if you'll ever consider them to be real. The creators of this short are obviously big fans of Dragon Ball Z and that is shown throughout the film. It is this passion for a project that we need because only then you'll get an authentic raw adaptation of the original. I reaIly hope someone will take these guys' ideas & fund them so they can expand. I'm disappointed at the two reviews below coz people often criticize often forgetting that small companies as such have limitations but despite that made a million times better job than Hollywood's evolution. Check it out if you're big fans of the anime like me or not. Regardless, it's great!

Undoubtedly the best dragon ball movie. I wish it'd have been a full length movie or saga

One of the best fan movies I have ever seen I wish it was a full length movie instead of a short

Like many other fans of the Dragonball franchise, I am staunchly sceptical of any attempts to adapt content from the anime or manga into live-action sequences. I've long felt that the nature of the show (with its fast-paced fight scenes, wild hairstyles, transformations and ki-blasts) is not suitable for live-action. However, and to my surprise, Fall of Men has prompted me to reconsider my outlook.

Fall of Men is loosely based on the Dragonball Z storyline "The History of Trunks". However, Fall of Men gives the Dragonball universe a darker, grittier feel, unlike any live-action adaptation that has gone before it. In line with the themes of the History of Trunks movie, the sense of loss and hopelessness is conveyed very effectively throughout the film. This is perhaps amplified by the lack of dialogue; the film largely relies on visual cues to move the story forward, with the voice of Trunks dubbed over only to provide the audience with an insight into his thoughts and feelings.

However, this film's strongest suit is in its ability to filter out the details from the anime/manga that do not match its gritty tone. However, any details that are plausible in live-action have been retained, which will please any hardcore Dragonball fans. For instance, whilst Bulma is not portrayed with blue hair, Dr. Briefs is still portrayed with a cigarette and small black cat. In short, the film manages to stay loyal to the franchise, but has moved far enough from it to not appear parodical.

Further, when tackling sequences much more difficult to portray in live-action (such as transformations, ki blasts and movements at speed), Fall of Men manages to execute them in a tasteful way, triumphing where many live-action adaptations have failed (although a little more tweaking could be carried out in places).

For any Dragonball fan, this short film is worth a watch. Above all else, it has single-handedly demonstrated that a decent live-action adaptation of Dragonball is possible. The fact that this film did not have the backing of a major production company makes it all the more remarkable.